


Prince's Hours

by haneulnara



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Slow Build, Slow Burn, based on Princess' hours, this is just a short thing i write when i feel down
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 05:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18866509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haneulnara/pseuds/haneulnara
Summary: He hated him, just because of that, he hated him. The heir prince to the throne, his damn fandom, his whole aura, every single thing about him made him want to puke. However, at the same time, there was still the innate curiosity everyone had for the royal family.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Just a funny thing with short chapters that I write when I'm stressed, or when I'm not feeling inspired by any other story.





	1. His Royal Highness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello moonies! Is me again with a completely different story from Son of the Moon, which I'm still working in, I'm just not as inspired right now, so I wrote this little thing and I have a couple of chapters ready, because this is what I write when I'm "smad" (yes, the meme). So, first of all, sorry for any typos or anything like it, I normally don't read this story in particular before posting, but I hope there aren't any~
> 
> Also, this based on the k-drama Goong or Princess' Hours and this all happens in a fictional Seoul.
> 
> Thank you so much for being interested and any comment will be appreciated <3

Seoho’s eyes were lost in the hallway, following the sea of bodies that were passing in front of him. Most of them were running late to class, he could see it in the way they were running with their computers between their arms, or just mumbling about how it would be the last time they were pulling an all-nighter. Some others seemed fresh out of the water, comfortably walking to class with a smile in their faces, and a pair of earphones on and quietly singing to the tune they were listening. But some, like him, were close to being zombies, with lifeless gazes and dark circles that ran down to their cheeks. He had promised himself he wouldn’t stay awake all night again if he had no homework, but then again, he didn’t think he would get so good at playing Candy Crush.

“You seem dead” Dongju’s voice made an attempt at bringing him back to life, but failed, almost immediately.

“I am” With a shaky hand, he took a sip of his coffee, but soon enough, he regretted it “Oh, god, don’t let me touch the coffee machine ever again.”

“It’s not like you would ask me for permission.” He offered the older his hand to help him get up and then dusted his black pants, that now had grey stains all over them.

Sometimes Seoho wondered what he would do without him. They were polar opposites. While Seoho couldn’t care enough about life, Dongju cared enough for both. Seoho was clumsy in any way possible, he hit himself with each and every piece of furniture he could find, and there was never a day his skin could be free of bruises; however, Dongju was always there to hold him while they were walking, or to heal him after one of his encounters with the floor. Dongju was almost always quiet, if people didn’t know him, he could even seem aloof, but Seoho was loud and open, sometimes too much for the younger’s liking. The two friends had found each other by chance, and Seoho was glad he at least had been lucky enough for that.

He stared at Dongju for a moment, eyes half closed and a clear pout on his face “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?”

A sweet, innocent smiled crossed over the younger’s face, which was enough to tell Seoho he didn’t really care about it. Dongju tried to tell him something more, maybe explain why he was so tired, or just keep making fun of him, but he was suddenly cut off by the screams of every single girl that was around them.

The bodies began outpouring from places he didn’t even know existed. Suddenly, he was being dragged around by each one of them, unable to stop them or even ask them to let him go. He tried looking around for Dongju, he even screamed his name a couple of times, but he was muted by the sound of the excited teenage girls, and all his eyes could see were their faces, some of them crying with excitement, others smiling and arranging their make-up, and some others just screaming their lungs out, not making any sense at all. He couldn’t breathe, and he could barely move, he felt as if he was in the middle of an apocalypses and all he really wanted was to go back to his zombie state.

He hated him, just because of that, he hated him. The heir prince to the throne, his damn fandom, his whole aura, every single thing about him made him want to puke. However, at the same time, there was still the innate curiosity everyone had for the royal family.

He kicked and punched everyone that crossed his way, trying to find a way to get air inside his lungs and get away from all the scratches that the girls were leaving along his arms. It was a living hell, and all thanks to his highness, couldn’t he at least enter through the back door? Was that too hard or too far away for his liking? That just gave him one more reason to hate him, with all his might.

“Seoho! Over here!” Finally, there he was, Dongju raising his hand to wave at him, as an angel that had just arrived from heaven. He was a couple of meters away, but he could make it, he could survive another day. Little by little, he tried surrounding the perimeter, convinced that, if he got closer to the source, they would push him away quicker, which they did, but not in the way he was expecting. Suddenly, his feet got tangled, maybe with a backpack, maybe with a dead body, he couldn’t be sure, but he felt himself falling, far form the crazy fans, but into a black hole that was receiving him with open arms.

He got caught in something, no, not something — someone, that was holding him close to their chest, with strong arms and a pretty nice smell. He quickly got away from them, feeling more embarrassed than anything else, but as he raised his head, he realized who had been his savior “…You have to be kidding me.” Was he in a romantic comedy? How cheesy could that be? In front of him was no other that the crown prince, looking at Seoho with a kind smile and worried eyes.

“I will take that as a ‘thank you’, and you are completely welcome” His smiled transformed into a smirk, and he could see how hard he was trying to hold in a big laugh. Perfect, now he was making fun of him.

Seoho opened his mouth to answer, but soon enough he was being rushed away by a couple of big dudes with huge backs and more muscles than he could even dream to have “What is this? Who do you think you are?” They all ignored him, but at least they dropped him outside of Ground Zero, far away from any crazy fan girl that was dreaming of something they could never have.

“You do realize you have the worst luck ever, don’t you?” Soon enough, Dongju was already right next to him, not even trying to cover up the smile that ran all through his face.

“You know, I’m starting to think this is all your fault, I mean, this all happened because you made me stand up from the most comfortable place on earth.” Seoho got his jacket back in place and massaged the places where the men had touched him. He would have at least a couple more bruises, all thanks to that prince.  
“Yeah, right, if I hadn’t, you would’ve died underneath all those fangirls.” He pointed at the moving crowd, that was now following the prince to his first class. He was glad they didn’t even share a building.

“Whatever,” They both knew the youngest was right, but Seoho just rolled his eyes and began walking in the opposite direction, “I’m just hungry, let’s get something to eat.”

He was more than done with the day, and it was barely starting.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The Queen Mother sighted before resting her head in his right hand. She and the Crowned Queen had been discussing for hours with no end. Their advisors and assistants had tried to stop them, they’d even gone against the Queen Mother’s wishes of keeping the conversation private, but the prince was about to arrive, and none of them wanted him to realize what they were talking about.

“Please, there has to be another way.” Once again, the Queen pleaded for the Queen Mother to understand, or at least listen to his point, but the decision was already made in her mind.

“My son, my second son, is dying, and although it pains me, we have to put the country first.”

“Youngjo is just a child, please, at least let him finish university.”

“No, we can’t wait any longer. Bring it to me.” One of the young assistants rushed to her call, carrying a wooden box in between her arms.

It was obvious that years had gone by. The wood had lost its shine and layers of dust accumulated on top of it. Slowly, the Queen Mother opened the box, only to reveal a photo cut in half, and a single golden ring. The Queen finally sighted, she had lost the first battle, but she would not lose the war.

“My husband made this man a promise that I intend to keep.” The old woman looked at her bodyguard and gave him one of the most precious secrets of the royal family “Find the family, find the ring, and bring me the child.”


	2. The ring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You see, my dear, this is what we wanted to talk about.” She made a gesture towards his father, who, carefully, laid down the box in between the three of them. He opened it as if it was going to explode at any moment, but after revealing its content, he audibly gasped at the sight “Oh, it’s so beautiful.”
> 
> ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Seoho arrived home after he had finished half of his project and long after the sun had set. It had been a normal day for a college student like him, nothing out of the ordinary. He had gone unnoticed by every single one of the people he had crossed paths with. He couldn't complain, and he thought he couldn't ask for more, until he opened the door to his home and found that s bomb had exploded on the inside.

He couldn't move past the entrance, the way we covered with boxes, newspapers, old toys, and even a couple of food cans that, apparently, had once been full of coins and marbles. It was impossible to find the floor, just as it was hard to even breathe without ending up on the floor.  
He looked for his mother, his father, or at least his golden fish, but all he could see was chaos.

"Mom!" He called for her, but the only answer he got was a loud crash, followed by his mother's complains and his father's excuses.

"I told you it has to be here."

"You said the exact same thing about the living room, the kitchen and the bathroom, it's not here!"

Needless to say, none of them sounded happy, in fact, while his father sounded tired with a little bit of guilt splashed in between, his mother seemed angry, with the desperation clear in each word she said. Seoho tried to think of something they could be looking for, it shouldn't be that hard, taking into consideration how clueless his father could be from time to time, but whatever he could think of, none of it required them to literally put the house upside-down.

"Mom! Dad!" He tried again, this time he made sure to stomp on one of the boxes with all his might.

For a couple of seconds all he could hear were rushed whispers, as if he had caught them doing something they weren't supposed to do. It would be the first time, and it wouldn't surprise him. The Lee family had a courious relationship to say the least. Although they all loved one another, their dynamics had always been the opposite. While his parents seemed little children ready to fight for the last candy, Seoho had always been calmer, the only one strong enough to resist the craving and think calmly, which was worrying considering that Dongju took care of him twenty-four hours and seven days a week.

Finally, his parents emerged from the little studio that no one really used. Their clothes were more than a mess. He could clearly see the stains of dust and dirt all over them. His mother wore her hair in a messy bun, and his father was supporting himself on an old broom. Each second that passed by, Seoho was getting more and more confused.

"Hello, my dear! How was your day? Did you manage to finish all the projects you had to do?" His mother smiled at him as if it was enough to make him forget every single thing he had seen or heard since the moment he put a foot inside the house.

"It was fine, and no, I couldn't finish everything but —" Once again, Seoho looked around. From the piled boxes that stood right next to his mother, to the little jars and toys that rested on the floor right next to him, “— what is happening here? Is that...is that my old teddy bear?” He pointed at the little toy, which seemed to have exploded from the inside out. His front had been cut off and around him a thick layer of white, fluffy filling was covering the wooden floor.

“Oh, well, we...” Worryingly, his mother turned to look at his father, who’s mouth was closed in a tight line. Suddenly, a heavy feeling took over Seoho's chest, making it hard to breathe at a normal rate. His parents were never that quiet, they always had something to say, even when there was no need to do so.

His heart began beating fast when his father began talking, “We have something to tell you, we need to discuss some things.”

His father, usually quiet and reserved, made his way up to him, pushing aside more than ten boxes on his way. Finally, they were together. His father took his backpack off his shoulders and offered him a hand to help him go through the mess. Slowly, and jumping over every box on the way, they arrived next to his mother, and the three of them walked to his parents room, where they sat on the floor, facing each other.

For a couple of seconds, none of them talked. Every sort of communication was being held between his parents and through little glances and quiet understanding. It just made Seoho more nervous about the whole thing, and unable to resist the quietness any longer, he finally spoke, with a trembling voice “Did... something happened? Is Martin okay?” His golden fish didn’t do much. He liked staying inside of his little castle and would only come out for some food, but Seoho loved him just as much as anyone would love their cat or dog.

“What? Martin? No, no, dear, Martin is perfect,” Seoho felt like he could breathe a little better after his mother mentioned him, “we just had to temporarily move him to your room—" And suddenly, her eyes were wide open, just as his dad’s.

A realization came to them, or so it seemed, because both of them made excited noises before jumping off the floor and running out of the room, more excited than he had ever seen them in all his life. Seoho sat there, on the floor, alone, and looking right at the door they had used as escape route. He whined, it was all too much for him, and all he really wanted was to know, anything, whatever, he just needed to understand.

Eventually, his parents returned, but now their faces were triumphant. With him, his father carried an old wooden box covered in dust. Seoho had seen it once or twice at the bottom of his wardrobe, but hadn’t paid it any mind “What is that?” He pointed at the little box his father was carrying as a child, which just made Seoho feel more uneasy.

His mother sighted and closed her eyes for a moment. It seemed as if she was getting ready to fight a great war, and she wasn’t sure she was going to survive.  
“You see, my dear, this is what we wanted to talk about.” She made a gesture towards his father, who, carefully, laid down the box in between the three of them. He opened it as if it was going to explode at any moment, but after revealing its content, he audibly gasped at the sight “Oh, it’s so beautiful.”

Right on the middle of the old box, in between what seemed to be a red cloth of silk, was a golden ring that shone brighter than any jewel Seoho had ever seen, even after all those years in the depths of his room. It seemed like a normal wedding ring, just a golden band, but once the light washed all over it, little diamonds began shinning. They were incrusted right in the middle, going all over around the band and, at some point, their formation changed to form a strange curve. He couldn’t see it clearly, and it was obviously missing something, but it was breathtakingly beautiful, even he couldn’t deny it.

“What — what about it?” Finally, Seoho recovered the ability to speak, but his shaky voice made it seem like no more than just a whisper. A weak one.  
“Well, the thing is, sweetie, this was given to your grandfather a long time ago.” His mother covered the ring with the cloth momentarily just to get an old photo from the bottom of it. It was black and white, and the years hadn’t treated it as well as they had the ring, but he could still recognize the warm smile of his grandfather, right next to a man that seemed familiar, but he couldn’t tell from where.

“Your grandfather was one of the brave men that fought to defend our country when it was needed, and he did so as one of the best assets of the army.” He had heard of that, he had seen all the medals, but he still didn’t understand what it all had to do with a wedding ring. “He was part of the best troop of the army; he even served alongside the Emperor, and… well, he saved his life more than once during that time.” That was another thing he already knew, so he only nodded a couple of times, beginning to think that, whatever was happening, was just one of his mother’s exaggerations.

He even tried to open his mouth and let them know that he already knew that, they had told him those stories more than once and, if he was honest, they had tired him a long time ago, but his mother interrupted him with the raise of her index finger “I know, I know you already know that, but what you don’t know is that he and the Emperor made an agreement, a reward for your grandfather’s service and friendship. The Emperor promised to your grandfather that he would marry the first child of the then Crowned Prince with our first child. He would make sure our family was paid for his work and sacrifice, and this,” His mother said while pointing to the box, “was his way of doing it. They maintained contact until your grandfather died, and they both talked long and hard about it —”

Her mother kept talking, about laws and society, but Seoho had stopped listening, he was now lost in his own thoughts, in his own realization. He was the first and only child of his family, their parents hadn’t had other kids, and none of their brothers and sisters were married, so that meant — “Am I — am I that child?” He felt his mouth become dry, and in his throat, a lump began to form. He was angry, scared even, how could they treat him as no more than just a prize?

“Son,” his father tried to take one of his hands, but Seoho took them away instantly, not wanting to be near any of them. He sighted, and rested his hand near him, offering his son the only type of comfort he knew, “you have to know that, no matter what, we care more about what you want and what you need than any old agreement, promise, or whatever it is. If you don’t want it, we can tell them we don’t have it, that we lost it or sold it, this is the only thing tying you with them, and we can break that tie if that’s what you want.”

“However,” his mother interrupted, now in a low voice. Was that supposed to calm him? “You should be aware that the royal family doesn’t accept a no for an answer, and that they are offering you — offering us, to pay for all our depths, and for all of your education, so —”

His father cleared his throat, interrupting his mother “Don’t think about it, son, if this is not what you want, we can always find a way—”

Once again, his father kept talking without Seoho really listening. He began thinking about all the possibilities that began lying in front of him. First, he wanted to keep his life his, not a like tool some old ladies could play with. Second, he didn’t see himself inside of a palace, he just couldn’t even think of following all the rules and codes that they had. Third, the thought of just sharing a whole day with the Crowned Prince was too much for him, and now they were offering him as a — husband? What even was that?

But then again, he wanted to help his parents. He had always seen them suffer about money, and they had always made big sacrifices to give him the best of the best. Wasn’t he supposed to repay them at some point? Wasn’t he also supposed to make sacrifices for them?

And just like that, he got the answer they were all looking for.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Excuse me, mother, I don’t think I quiet understand yet.” Youngjo had hear her, but a part of him, a big one, had automatically entered on denial.  
“Please, son, don’t make it harder than it is.” His mother begged him with the eyes. He could see it was just as hard for her as it was for him, but he also knew his mother, and he would never go against the Queen Mother’s wishes, at least not directly, “Your father is sick, and you are expected to ascend to the throne, but you can’t do it without getting married first.”

Youngjo knew this day would come, he had been told so since he could remember. His own grandfather had shown him more than once photos he got from said child, and had discussed with him moral rules of the society, but at the end of the day, he didn’t think it would really happen, just because one simple reason: how would a society like his accept something like that?

However, it clearly didn’t matter, not anymore, as his grandmother was practically throwing him to the unknown.

The prince had never had the wish to run away from it all, but that moment broke the rule, and filled him with the desire to disappear and never come back. But he knew his place, and that it wasn’t easy to leave it, or even to think about it. It wasn’t just his life that was at stake, it was a whole country, and he had grown up with that weight since his uncle died and his father had to take the throne.

He didn’t see a way out this time, but he wasn’t giving up, not yet.

“Do we at least know the name?”

“Seoho. His name is Lee Seoho.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!! Remeber that this is all based on a fictonal Seoul uwu. Anyways, if you want to talk to me or anything like that, you can always hit me up at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/_jaehwannie), as always.


	3. Leap of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let go of me!” He moved in between the other’s arms until he finally got rid of his grip. He pushed him away, hitting his palms against his chest and using every single bit of strength he could find within him, “you’re a jerk!” For a moment, as short as it was, he had wanted to hear him out, to understand his reasoning and maybe find a way for both of them to get what they wanted, but now, now he just wanted to puke.

**DONGJU [12:40AM]:** WHAT?! YOU?! WHAAAT?!  
**SEOHO [12:40AM]:** Yes, me.  
**KEONHEE [12:40AM]:** …  
**KEOHNHEE [12:41AM]:** OK, like…first…you’re not even that cute, you know? I mean, I could be a better match tbh, I’m tall, I’m cute, I have a lot of presence, and above all, I can walk like a normal person, and without almost killing myself every time  
**SEOHO [12:41AM]:** Look, HOW DARE YOU  
**SEOHO [12:42AM]:** But also, you’re not helping  
**DONGJU [12:42AM]:** He’s still writing, gite him some time  
**DONGJU [12:42AM]:** give*  
**KEONHEE [12:43AM]:** Second, like…honestly, it makes no sense?? I mean, congrats and all, but…aren’t the wives supposed to give the king an heir?? I mean, YAY INCLUSSION, but like…do they know that liking men doesn’t mean you are able to have children?? I’m?? Are you supposed to suddenly be able to get pregnant?  
**KEONHEE [12:43AM]:** You never let me finish writing ¬¬  
**KEONHEE [12:43AM]:** Also, I gave myself a mental image I didn’t want nor needed, why am I like this?  
**DONGJU [12:43AM]:** AAAAAH no, I didn’t want that image either, that’s just messed up  
**SEOHO [12:43AM]:** EXCUSE YOU, I WOULD BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PREGNANT LADY  
**SEOHO [12:43AM]:** Anyways, I don’t know, tbh, I was thinking the same thing, they won’t get anything marrying him off with…well me. Like…I don’t even think the public would enjoy it  
**KEONHEE [12:44AM]:** Are you mental? The girls are starving forthings like this, they would be your greatest shippers  
**DONGJU [12:44AM]:** he’s right, like…I don’t think they care about the older population, he won’t be their king…  
**SEOHO [12:44AM]:** So it’s like…to appeal to the new population?  
**KEONHEE [12:45AM]:** Idk, still makes little sense but could be…  
**KEONHEE [12:45AM]:** OMG WE NEED TO GET YOU A SHIP NAME  
**SEOHO [12:45AM]:** A what??  
**KEONHEE [12:45AM]:** SHIP NAME, a couple name, the tabloids will use it for everything, so we must do a good job  
**SEOHO [12:46AM]:** …I’m going to sleep…  
**DONGJU [12:46AM]:** You’re going to play videogames  
**SEOHO [12:46AM]:** Whatever, I’m gonna stop talking to you, bye  
**KEONHEE [12:46AM]:** Why u always gotta be so rude T___T

********** **

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

One by one, the students began filling the campus, all of them worried about simple things in life, like a school project they had to deliver, an imminent deadline that was slowly getting closer, or something as simple as a lover’s quarrel. Everything was so simple for them, even if they felt like the world was coming to an end. Youngjo envied them.

He looked upon the campus from outside his class. It was weird for the Crown Prince to arrive so early in the morning, mainly because he knew that people were waiting for him, his so-called fans, and he knew they would be disappointed if they didn’t get to see him; he also had to try his father’s breakfast and give his morning greetings before even thinking about coming out of the palace, but he always told himself that that wasn’t the main reason for his tardiness. However, he wanted to be the first one to arrive that morning.

He didn’t know him, but he could already tell Seoho had his morning habits. Even when he was being surrounded by a thousand of screaming girls, he had been able to see him sitting at the stairs, waiting for someone, with a cup of coffee on his hands. Youngjo thought no one would blame him for wanting to learn more about him, he probably could just ask, but that wasn’t his style, it had never been.

He had been carefully watching each of the faces that came in the campus, quietly waiting for him, for his fiancé. He wanted to see the face of the poor soul that he was condemning to hell, at least once before actually meeting him.

Just as he was beginning to lose hope, a white head began to make his way between the sea of bodies, with a tired face and that coffee cup between his fingers. He seemed so small in between all of those people, as if he would lose him if he took his eyes off him. Even from afar, Youngjo could tell that he hadn’t sleep at all. Two dark circles covered the skin below his eyes, big enough to almost reach his pinky cheeks. He was walking with his eyes half closed, not really paying any attention whatsoever to his surroundings, which made him trip, more than once, and almost completely fall to the floor, at least two times.

Youngjo felt his stomach hit the floor, and suddenly, a great urge to take care of him took over his body, and, at the same time, took him by surprise. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t that bad…

“Look, his highness is here half an hour before the class starts, am I still dreaming?”

He didn’t have to turn around to see the mock in Geonhak’s eyes, he could hear it in his voice. It was enough to bring him back to earth and to reality.

“Didn’t you say that every time you had a dream about me, I was in my underwear?” 

“Ah, right, you have too many clothes on to be on my imagination.” The younger put his arm around his shoulder, making him go closer to his body, and giving him a few pats on the shoulder, “You seem pretty…entertained, I would really like it if you could share the fun with your dear cousin.”

If he had to be honest, a part of Youngjo didn’t want to share it with him. He wanted to keep those little images of the other for himself, the miss-steps, the shy smile he gave others after almost falling down. It might sound silly, but somehow, he thought those little things were just too cute and precious to share. However, at the same time, he also felt his heart heavy with guilt and regret every time he looked at Geonhak and thought about what should have been.

“It’s him, the blonde one” With his chin, he pointed at the stairs were Seoho used to sit at daily, and were he was now waiting for someone.

“…him?” It took him a few seconds to join the dots, and once he did, he opened his mouth ridiculously wide “Oh! Him! For that thing!” He was quietly screaming, excited of his realization, but at the same time careful enough so no one else could hear them. The palace hadn’t given any notice yet, and Seoho still had to visit his grandmother — the Queen Mother — to show her the ring as a prove, and formally accept, or deny, the marriage “Well, at least he’s cute, isn’t him?”

Just then, a big guy sat next to him, taking the blonde one by surprise and, somehow, waking him up from his slumber. They seemed friends, as Seoho then proceeded to hit him several times in the arm and then they both laughed, hugging each other for a while. It was weird, watching someone so little in the arms of someone so much bigger than him, but somehow the sight just made him so much cuter. Everything would be so much easier if he didn’t care about him, about secluding him in a golden cage.

“He’s cute indeed, small and cute.” The words came out of Youngjo’s mouth without him even realizing it, but he knew it was too late to take it back once he heard Geonhak’s little laugh.

“I mean — I guess, but he even seems taller than you.” He tightened his grip around his neck, and began manhandling him all over the place, “You’re just too excited, aren’t you? Aren’t you, little prince?”

His annoying low voice filled his ears, and at times like that, he hated it.

Using his arms, he managed to push the other away, maybe a little bit too easy for his liking, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Even when they were children, Youngjo had always been the strongest one, and the one most interested in learning how to fight and move in the battlefield. Even now with their fencing lessons, Geonhak showed no interest in them, whereas Youngjo showed maybe too much interest, even more so than he did with other and more important matters.

“God, you’re such a kid” And just like that, the cold and angry Youngjo was back, even if just for a second.

“Okay, I get it, you’re not in the mood, I’m sorry” Geonhak raised his arms to surrender, and slowly began walking back to the class, giving him a little reverence before turning his back.

Youngjo rolled his eyes, a warm smile beginning to recover the light of his face. One last time, he turned to look to the rest of the campus, but the blonde head was no longer in sight.

He sighted one last time, nothing was going according to plan, and that was a real problem for the Crown Prince.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Contrary to what he thought, nothing had gone out of the ordinary that day. He was still a plain old student, with just as much problems as the rest. No one had noticed him, nothing had change, and for a moment, he thought that maybe, just maybe, nothing would ever change. He knew, better than anyone really, that giving himself hope would only make the fall more painful, but he couldn’t avoid it, it was either that or crying his eyes outs from the beginning.

He got his cellphone out and was about to plug in his earphones when a shadow towered over him, making him halt completely, afraid to even raise his eyes.

“That’s why you can’t walk a straight line without getting your own feet mixed up, you’re not even paying attention to the road.”

The voice, that voice, was like a glass of cold water right in his face. It was him, the Crown Prince — no, his fiancé. He tightened the grip on his cellphone and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. He wasn’t ready to face him, he didn’t even want to think about him, but now it seemed that his fate was sealed, and there was no way for him to escape from that. Slowly, he opened his eyes and began raising his face, feeling as if he had done something he wasn’t supposed to do.

They stared at each other for a while, the only sound that could be heard was the voices coming out of the radio of his bodyguards. Seoho took the opportunity to look at him for the first time. Not through a TV screen, not after someone had manipulated it on a computer program, but as he truly was, with no makeup on and the appearance of a tired university student. He seemed so normal, so human, that it almost physically pained him, and, somehow, he felt like Youngjo felt something similar.

He was about to ask him if there was anything he needed, but before he could open his mouth, the other stepped closer to him and grabbed his arms, “Don’t accept it, tell them you don’t want to do it.”

“W—what?” Confusion took over him, he was overwhelmed by his words and his closeness. Did he just heard what he think he heard? Did he just…bluntly asked him to refuse the marriage?

“Don’t do it,” The look of his eyes was full of desperation, he seemed as if he wanted to shake him, but was holding himself back. Was he…worried? “Do you think I want to waste my life with someone like you? As low and plain as you?” Suddenly, the look of his eyes change, they became little and cold, as if it was disgusting to even dare to touch him, or breathing the same air, “In a million of years, you would only be a weight for me, and I don’t have the time to carry a death weight as you.”

Seoho knew he was rude, he could see it in the way he walked and the way he talked, but he had thought, as stupid as he was, that he would have some compassion, some type of heart for someone that was about to become an important part of his daily life; however, he was proving him wrong. Suddenly, the disgusted one was him. His words had gone right through his chest and into his heart, which only made him feel worse. How could someone take him as something so little? So insignificant? He wanted to scream, and he did.

“Let go of me!” He moved in between the other’s arms until he finally got rid of his grip. He pushed him away, hitting his palms against his chest and using every single bit of strength he could find within him, “you’re a jerk!” For a moment, as short as it was, he had wanted to hear him out, to understand his reasoning and maybe find a way for both of them to get what they wanted, but now, now he just wanted to puke. Once again, he pushed him away, paying little mind to the bodyguards that were beginning to surround him “Believe me, I don’t want to share my life with someone like you, but if this is what I have to do to help my family and piss you off at the same time, then I will, no doubts”

Youngjo looked at him with a look that Seoho couldn’t figure out, but it was as if he had been the one to hurt him. He could see his shoulders moving just as fast as he was breathing, and he could feel his own heart beating so fast, it felt as if it was going to explode.

“You’re an idiot” And without saying a word, the prince turned around and walked to his car, leaving Seoho standing there, with the words trapped on his mouth.

“Where do you think you’re going?! We’re not finished!” He dared to run behind the car for half a block before giving up entirely. He was angry, but must of all, he felt hurt and completely lost. He had told himself there was no going back after saying yes to his parents, and he promised himself he would be brave and take the bull by the horns, but now he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do it. Now, the only thing clear to him was that he was going to be completely alone.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“For the last time, stay still! I’m trying to fix it.”

“But they’ll be here at any moment! What if I’m not ready?” 

“Well, you definitely won’t be ready if you don’t stop moving.” They had been trying to fix his old and only tuxedo for more than half an hour, but every time his mother managed to make something look right, another thing popped out of place. She had repeatedly said that it was a battle she wouldn't lose, but by that time, he thought it was just better if she just gave up. 

Seoho couldn’t remember the last time he saw his mother like that. Her face was calm, but he knew by the way her hands trembled as she grabbed his trousers that her insides were shaking, just as his. 

A part of him felt better knowing that his heart wasn't the only one that was hitting his rib cage as if he was about to have a heart attack. However, he also wanted to feel as if there was someone sane enough to take his hand and assure him everything was going to be alright, that all he needed to do was take a deep breath and let the flow take him to wherever he needed to be. But it seemed there was no one in the house that could help him, not that morning. 

"There we go, it's ready," his mother's voice took him out of his short predicament, even if just for a moment. He looked at the mirror and, for a second, marveled at the silhouette that was staring back at him. It wasn't the most refined outfit, the tuxedo had been once used by his father, so it certainly wasn't new, but, somehow, he managed to pull it off. His waist was weirdly accentuated, and his shoulders surely looked bigger than they actually were, but it all gave him that one perfect Dorito shape everyone bragged about. For a moment he thought he could fool someone into thinking he had some abs. "You look stunning, sweetie." Yes, for the first time in a while, he could even say he felt stunning. 

Seoho adjusted his tie once more, ignoring the worried look his mother was starting to give him. They all felt as if they were at the edge. Each minute that passed was a minute closer to the royal car parking in front of his house, and a minute closer to him meeting the Queen. None of them felt like he was ready, not even his father, that was normally his biggest fan, but Seoho couldn't blame him, because none of them really knew what was waiting for him behind the palace’s doors. 

“I can’t believe you’re seeing the Queen with a hair like that” Finally, and after getting over her accomplishment with the suit, his mother spoked once more, shaking his head with disapproval. 

"Well — either way, they will end up changing it to whatever color is best for them" he knew he probably should've considered dyeing his hair to a more natural looking color before going face to face with royalty, but if they were about to take over his life, he at least wanted to enjoy the last few weeks, or days, he had before giving them his all. 

Just then, he heard the bell ringing and his heart falling to his feet. He wasn't ready, he was afraid, and the only thing he really wanted was to go back to bed and pretend it was all one of his crazy dreams. 

His father knocked on the door of his room before making his way in "They're here" 

His whole body froze. He couldn’t remember how to walk or breathe without shaking and falling to the floor. He wished he could stop time, even if just that one time. He needed to precious extra seconds to convince himself that everything was going to be alright. He needed more time to cope with his own decisions, or to at least think about what he was supposed to say when facing a queen. He needed time to grab his mother’s hand and ask her to tell him she was going to be there, right next to him. 

But the one thing he couldn’t have was more time. 

As if we had been able to hear his thoughts, his mother turned around to hold his head between her kind hands. Immediately, he looked at her, and somehow, he felt as if he was looking at the mirror. Swimming along her eyes, he could see the same fear and worrisome that was drowning him, and when she smiled, he could see the same glimpse of hope he felt at the very back of his head. Seeing his mother show him such raw emotions after always fighting to be the strongest one of the family took Seoho off guard, but was enough to show him how much they shared, no matter the distance between them, “Remember, son, you can still tell them no if you want, we will support whatever decision you make.” 

“I know, mom, I know” But he had already made his decision, and there was no going back, not this time, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours” He kissed her head before leaving his room.

He knew they were both walking behind him, and that both of them were giving him warm smiles that just showed how much they loved his son, but as he walked down the stairs and directly to the front door, he made the firm decision not to look back at them, because he knew that, if he did, he would chicken out of all of it and never leave his house again.

He welcomed the two guards that were waiting for him outside with two little bows, one for each one of them. They opened the door of the car —more like, limousine —with big smiles on their faces, as if they weren’t about to take him to the slaughterhouse. Only after he heard the car door close behind him did he dare to look back at his parents. They were both waving at him, with the warmest smiles they could pull out and crying eyes.

He waved back at them with the same smile. He had promised himself he wouldn’t cry, not yet. He still had a wedding to survive, and he wouldn’t let a little meeting crush him down so harshly. 

He was quiet all the way. He had so many questions to ask, but he didn't trust his boys enough to speak out loud. His hands were shaking, and in his front pocket he felt the weight of the ring more real and more vividly than ever. Was he even allowed to speak to the guards if they didn’t speak to him first? Weren’t they supposed to be these robotic humans that fought to kill and only knew basic words to communicate with each other? His ignorance was showing, and even for him, it would be painful to watch.

When they arrived at the front gate, he had done nothing else but discuss with himself whether it was okay for him to talk to the bodyguards. He should’ve been studying the phrases he wanted to say, because he knew he would panic and maybe not talk for a couple of uncomfortable seconds, but now it was too late. He had condemned himself, and there was nothing he could do. 

He tried to stay focused as they opened the door for him, but as soon as his foot touched the floor, he ran out of breath, and his heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds. 

He had seen the palace before, through some videos and photos, even from the distance, when he was passing by with Keonhee and Dongju, but he had never seen it up close, and he had certainly never seen so many guards lined up in front of him. The whole scene was mesmerizing. Suddenly he felt as if he was traveling back in time. Even the sky seemed to be bluer, and the birds seemed to sing louder. He was entering a living fantasy and he still wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse. 

“Sir, the Queen is waiting for you.” The tallest of the bodyguards said, and Seoho soon recognized him as one of the guards that had taken him away from the prince just a couple of days ago. 

Now it all seemed decades ago. 

“Yeah, sorry, I was just looking around.” 

The three of them began walking between the lines of severe looking guards and into the calmer and more delicate appearance of the inside of the palace. He allowed them to take him through all the passageways he certainly didn’t know and wondered how many times he would get lost just to try and find the bathroom. But just thinking of that was crazy. 

In a couple of days that would be his house. Those corridors and passageways would be his, the beautiful garden and amazing looking flowers, all of that would be his. The realization weighted on him and took over his mind. He was now barely paying attention to whatever was happening around them, he could see some people bowing to him from the corner of his eyes, and at some point he could hear water running behind him, but he was now too far gone to care about it, or to at least actually pay attention to it.

Before he could even ask the bodyguards to stop walking to give him some time to prepare himself, they were opening the door for him and allowing him in.

The room was as big as his house, the walls were painted red and were decorated with various paintings and pieces of art that were certainly worth more than his life. There was gold everywhere, on the walls, on the huge curtains, on the carpet and decorating each corner of the room with different types of ornaments. The room was divided by a half wall, that was decorated with the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen. At one side, he could see what seemed to be a living room, with three huge couches that were facing each other. To the other side, a long wooden table stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by beautiful paintings, held in place with wooden frames decorated with a line of gold around them.

“Please, Sir,” The tallest bodyguard pointed at the table and took him to the head of the table. The chair was more comfortable than his bed, and surely much more expensive, “please wait here, the Queen will arrive at any moment. Please remember you must not look directly at her eyes and you must not start any conversation, she will be the one to talk first.”

Seoho could only nod as answer, and then watch as they left and closed the door behind him. 

That was it, it was all starting, and his body was shaking with the knowledge, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation.

Suddenly, a couple of ladies approached him wearing traditional clothes and not daring to look at his eyes. He froze as they began to serve him a pinkish tea that smelled as the flowers that decorated the room. After leaving it served in front of him, they started walking back through were they came, never showing him their backs.

Soon, he was all alone, nothing but the sound of his breathing as his sole companion. Nervously, he looked around the room, just making sure he had seen anything there was to see, and that he had marveled himself with each one of the corners of the room.

He couldn’t stay still; he was just too anxious to even dare think about it.

He sipped the tea they had given him, hoping that the warm liquid was enough to bring him some peace. At first, it did. The taste was soft, and it easily went down his throat, traveling all the way down to his empty stomach. He closed his eyes enjoying the sensation of the tea warming up his insides, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from the fact that he was about to seal his fate.

Finally, he stood up, figuring that at least he should be able to stretch his legs before the queen arrived.

He looked around the table for a while, watching the paintings and golden sculptures as if they were part of a great art exposition. He had been keeping his hands to himself, mainly because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to pay for one of those little things even if he worked for it his whole life. However, the beautiful colors of one of the jars were just too attractive for him not to look a little bit closer.

Carefully, he leaned over it, trying to admire the colors better and see if the inside had something special, but soon, a crack made him stop completely. Quickly, he straightened up; his eyes were big with surprise and although his mouth was wide open, no sound was coming out of it. His hands began touching the back of his trousers, but he soon found out that they were wide open, giving everyone the possibility to see his old underwear.

Wasting no time, he sat down again, now more nervous than he had ever been in his whole life. He was about to meet the Queen with his bottom wide out in the open.

“I’m having a nightmare, this isn’t happening, this isn’t happening, this isn’t—”

“Her Majesty the Queen will enter the room.”

He felt his own face lose all color as he stood up with shaky legs and his hands in front of him. He looked at his own feet and bowed while trying to keep a poker face.

“Hello, Seoho, please, sit down.” Her voice was so soft and calm that it sounded shaky at times, but it also made him relax, at least enough to stop biting his lower lip.

He sat, just as she asked, but kept his eyes locked to the floor next to him.

“It is fine, you are allowed to look at me, do not preoccupy yourself with something like that.” Slowly, he looked at her with a small smile on his lips and bowed, once again, because one could never be too sure “Nice to meet you, Seoho, I’m glad you agree to meet me.”

“Thank you for inviting me, it’s an honor to get to know you and see the palace” He tried keeping his calm, but he wanted to go out, to run outside and hide himself in the darkest part of his wardrobe. He started to feel the whole world collapse onto him, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take it.

“I wanted to talk with you about the marriage proposal. I want to make sure you understand what this all will mean for you…” He stopped listening to her, only nodding when it was necessary.

He could hear his own wrist clock, and he could feel the way the skin of his naked tights was sticking to the chair. He just had to endure it for a while, and then he could just say he needed some time alone and run for his life. Yes, he could do it, he had it under control.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I think I should be present if you are to interview the soon to be Crown Prince.” Him. It was him. He had entered the room without even knocking, and he could see that his mother was more than mad about it.

“This is a private meeting, Prince, and if I am not mistaken, you should be taking your French lessons right now.”

“I am well aware, but maybe my fiancé would feel more comfortable if I were with him” Hearing the word come out of his mouth made him feel sick and made his whole insides twist.

He had nothing under control. Nothing was fine, and all he wanted to do was to scream at him and shake him out of his jerkiness.

“Excuse me, your Majesty, but I know what I’m getting myself into, and I understand that my life will change completely, but I’ve made my decision, I want to help my family and this is the best I can do for any of them, so —” He was about to sign his death sentence, but he also was about to be free even if just for a while, “if you could excuse me.”

He jumped off his chair and gave her a quick bow before running out of the place with his hands covering his bottom and slamming the door behind him. All he could hear behind his back was Youngjo’s low voice filled with confusion:

“What the hell.”


	4. New beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What you heard,” Finally, his mother stopped walking and look right back at him. He couldn’t remember the last time she looked so mad at him, almost as if she didn’t want to look at him. Seoho didn’t blame her, if their places were switched, he would be more than frustrated with his own poor life choices, “I guess now you know there’s no other choice left for you.”

His hands were still trembling with a cold borne out of the realization of what he had done. He still couldn’t believe it himself, but it was done and there was no way back.

“You left the Queen and the Crown Prince talking alone! You ran out of the room without even addressing them!” His mother, unlike him, couldn’t stay still. She had been walking along the living room since she learned what had happened. She had even called the palace and tried apologizing, but for what he could tell, she had had no luck at all “You’re lucky the Crown Prince was understanding enough to forgive you and even dare to ask his mother for forgiveness in your place.”

“What?” Seoho didn’t expect hearing anything like that. For what he knew, the scene he had done was enough to break any relationship they could have between them, and a side of him was glad about it; however, knowing what he knew about the Prince, he didn’t expect him to have a kind side for him, or a kind side at all, “He did what?”

“What you heard,” Finally, his mother stopped walking and look right back at him. He couldn’t remember the last time she looked so mad at him, almost as if she didn’t want to look at him. Seoho didn’t blame her, if their places were switched, he would be more than frustrated with his own poor life choices, “I guess now you know there’s no other choice left for you.”

He knew his mother was right, now that the other had done everything for them to forgive him, there was no way out of this marriage. Seoho had dug his own grave, and now there really was no way out for him. He sighted out of frustration, feeling his life run between his fingers. Stopping the wedding from happening was just like trying to stop a river from running to the sea: impossible and a complete waste of time. 

Without answering or even looking at his mother, he left the living room and began walking to his room like a sad dog; with his head down and his tail between his legs. The only thing he could think about was what had he done in his past life to earn such a twisted fate?

As he closed the door of his room behind him, he still had no answer, but he at least was now in a place full of silence, full of peace. A place where he could lay down on his bed, on maybe on the floor, and feel safe, feel home, and he wanted to enjoy every single bit of that amazing feeling, because he knew , from the bottom of his heart, he wouldn’t feel that again in a long, long time.

Before laying down on his bed, he sat at the border of it and looked right at the chair in front of him. There rested the trousers that had been the beginning of the end for him and his entire life. Just by looking at the hole that took over must of the back he felt his cheeks hot and his chest heavy with embarrassment, and suddenly he realized he would need to face him and the Queen again. He really hoped they weren’t expecting him to keep a straight face, because just the thought of it made his lips tense and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

He let himself fall on the covers of the bed and, for a while, all he did was looking at the ceiling, trying to imagine the calming, beautiful night sky shinning bright on top of him. The stars were everything he really needed to be at peace, but the stars were the only thing he couldn’t see, at least not while living in a city like Seoul, full of night life that filled the night sky with light, making the stars vanish into the atmosphere.

Suddenly, he remembered something Youngjo had asked him: did he know something about the palace? Anything at all? Even more, did he know something about the Prince, his now fiancé? The only things he really knew of him were little snippets of rumors that Keonhee sometimes talked about. He knew when his birthday was, and that he had once had a girlfriend, but they didn’t last more than a couple of months. He obviously also knew his name, his surname, how old he was, but aside from that, everything else was a mystery to him, a mystery that needed an answer, preferably before their wedding day.

After giving it much thought, Seoho grabbed his laptop and began typing, searching for all the fanbases the Prince surely had. And, just as expected, it didn’t take him long to find them, the prince was the most famous man in all South Korea, not even the members of the most popular boy band could compete against him.

Seoho looked around before even daring to open one of them, because even knowing he was in an enclosed space and there was no way someone would see him, a little pinch of shame still made its way to the pit of his stomach. Finally, he clicked on the first link he could see, made the best username he could think of, and began wondering around it.

__

_Shinny-seoh:_ hello everyone!! I’m new to this fandom!! I would like to know more about the Prince, maybe something y’all like, a moment you enjoyed, anything like it, really, I just want to know more of him ^^

He left the laptop on his bed, thinking it might need a couple of minutes before getting any kind of answer.

He decided to give himself a bath, allow the warm water to cleanse his soul of all the nervousness and anguish he had felt throughout the day. As soon as the water touched his body, his muscles began to relax, his shoulders suddenly felt more relaxed and he smiled wide, without eve. thinking about it.

He would miss it, his little routine before going to bed, the stillness of having nothing else to do for the night, living without all the responsibilities that came with being part of the royal family, and, for a moment, he thought about Youngjo and how hard it surely had been for him when his uncle unexpectedly died and his father had to ascend in his place.

A little boy that was just as any other, carefree and ignorant of the world around him, his greatest concern being what was he going to do when he had no more homework left and all that he could do was to enjoy the night, with his parents. A little kid that had lots, and lots of friends, because his warm eyes and kind smile where magnetic, and called the attention of every single person that turn to look at him. At least Seoho had had a choice, and he had made that choice consciously, but no one had asked the prince if he wanted his crown, no one has asked the little boy if he was willing to leave every single aspect of his life in the past and create a completely new life.

They had just thrown him to the wolves without giving him any help.

Seoho forced himself to shake the feeling of sadness and empathy off his chest, because the only thing that he could expect from him after everything he had gone through and the way he had treated him was a cold heart, so he didn’t plan on giving anything more than that.

He left the shower without really wanting to, quickly getting all the excess water off his body and hair with the help of a towel before once again entering his own room. He looked at the computer that rested on the bed ad if it had done him wrong, because even though he wanted to know more about the man he was about to spend his life with, he had to be honest with himself: he was afraid of falling for the truth.

He decided to give it a couple more minutes and decided to dress himself first and foremost. He took his sweet time with the pajama, talking with both Dongju and Keonhee in the process, looking at some weird tweets in his timeline and sharing the best memes he could find in each and every single one of his social medias. When the time to dress-up came, he did so while caressing his own skin, taking the pants up his legs in the slowest of the motions, and then taking forever deciding weather or not it was worth it to use a shirt. Finally, there wasn’t much left for him to do, and with a straight face, he decided to face the truth once and for all.

He had expected to see one, maybe two comments on his post and a couple of likes, in fact, he wouldn’t have been surprised if no one paid any mind to it, but, apparently, he had been more than wrong. Waiting for him were at least a dozen of comments, all with different links, photos and ‘evidence’ that supported their statement and how much they loved and cared for the Prince.

Seoho gulped, knowing that once he began walking down the rabbit hole, there was no way out of it.

He opened the first comment that caught his eye and began reading biting his lower lip.

_PrincessHye98:_ Welcome to our community! I’m really glad to see that you decided to join us. As for the question I must tell you that narrowing down to words the reasons why I love the prince so much is nearly impossible for me, but I will try my best for you.

He read on with a smile in his face, because even if he could listen to her talk, he could feel the love and caring of her words. He was expecting to read something that had to do with his appearance, with the way his muscles would look like when he did certain things —you know, those things the girls always cried about when he arrived at the school —but she never mentioned any of it, in fact, none of the comments did.

For PrincessHye98 what really made her fall in love with the prince was the kindness she could see in his eyes. She had once thought that all of it was an act he did for the cameras, but then, one day, found herself lost inside of the university and about to lose an exam because of it. After seeing her wander worryingly around the halls, he appeared smiling in front of her, and with that kind smile and bright eyes, he asked if she needed help and took her to her classroom on time and made sure she got in safety.

There was another girl that mentioned how warm his heart seemed to be, because while other members of the royal family were noticeably helping the community because it was their duty, his smile was always bright, and within his eyes they could notice how much he enjoyed spending time with them, caring for them and living a little bit of their lives. 

For a moment, Seoho stopped and looked to the distance. He remembered the first time they met, that one morning he had been a victim of the sea of student bodies running after him. According to everything he knew about royalty and what the movies and tv shows showed about it, he should had been horrified about someone touching him without his permission, even more so if that someone was a low-class guy that hadn’t had a shower that morning because he was running late to meet with his friends. But instead of ranting at him and ask the guards to take him off him, he had grabbed his body mid-fall, and, if he remembered correctly, had studied him just to make sure he was alright. He had smiled at him and now he realized that he wasn’t making fun of him, on the contrary, he was just trying to make him feel better about the whole thing. He had also arrived at his meeting with the Queen when Seoho must needed him, when he began feeling lost, alone and nervous, he had interrupted the Queen and stayed with him, even against her orders, all because of how nervous he had been.

With a heavy heart, Seoho began reading the next comment, somehow hoping he would find at least one comment that was solely about his ‘amazing chest’.

But as soon as he began reading it, he lost all hope, because the next girl began talking about him and his family. She mentioned how much he cares for them, she even went far enough to talk about the way his eyes ‘lit up’ every time he was talking with the Queen Mother, his grandma, and how much they seemed to enjoy the presence of each other.

Seoho didn’t know him, at least not well enough to say if they were right or wrong with a hundred percent of certainty, but what he knew was that he too had sacrificed his whole life to be keep a promise his late grandfather did to a family he didn’t even know. Youngjo had forgotten everything he really wanted from life. Maybe he had someone he liked, maybe he had dreamed with being the first single king in the history of Korea, but anything he’d forgotten about all of those desires and went through with the weirdest marriage. All because of a promise he hadn’t done, but was important for his grandma, and therefore was more important than anything else.

His chest became even heavier as he read the next comment.

It was about the sudden change he had suffered when he was no more than a few years old. When it all started, he wasn’t even able to live inside the palace, because he wasn’t the Crown Prince and, hence, he only was a thread for the actual prince. He didn’t have luxuries, at least not the ones his cousin had. He couldn’t even go to his grandparents as any other kid would, they were both King and Queen of a hole country and couldn’t make the time to go and spend time with him outside the palace, moreover, every time he could go and see them his grandfather was cold, and completely oblivious towards him. Yet, proof says that he had been always kind and caring with them, and he had never stopped loving them just as much as he did today.

Then, when his uncle died, it all got worse. Not only did he had to forget about the life he had known, but he had to endure every single inhabitant of the palace thinking that his parents had planned it all. No one liked him, not even his own servants, he was truly alone in a completely new world and no one was willing to give him a friendly hand to save him from himself. It took them years to grow some love for the new prince, but even after all that time, there were still people that preferred the old king, Geonhak, and they made sure to make the new Crown Prince aware of it. He didn’t give up, or at least that was everyone could tell from outside the palace. He kept fighting against all odds and all threats with a huge smile and pretending they didn’t bother him. He never gave up, he just kept going forward and working hard to earn the love no one thought he deserved.

Finally, someone mentioned his cousin on their comment, the old Crown Prince, and the dark times he had gone through after the dead of his father. The rebellious and risk-taking Geonhak had gone quiet, deadly quiet. He didn’t smile and he barely eat, they all felt as if they were losing him and no one really know what to do to get the old little boy back. Youngjo was the only one who dared speak to him without touching his heart. He took his hand as no one else had done and forced him to go outside, to see the world and how it was all still running around him. He tried his best to appear strong before him, even if he felt the coldness of the palace in his heart. He fought for him, for his friend and partner in life, and he was the one that helped him go out of that dark, lonely place.

Without him, no one really dares to think what would have happened to Geonhak.

Seoho stood there for a moment, looking at one of the walls as if he could find all the answers he needed. His chest felt heavier than ever, knowing that he had thought completely wrong of him, that he had judge him without even really knowing his story, or the things he had gone through. He didn’t answer any of the comments, he didn’t have the energy, instead, he closed his laptop and let himself fall on the covers of his bed.

He stood there, still and in silence, while hearing his thoughts go by little by little, all of them thinking about the same thing, he wasn’t ‘his Royal Highness’ for him, not anymore, and also, maybe, just maybe, marrying him wasn’t going to be that bad after all.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He felt the drops of water going down his back slowly, painting tracks that followed his spine all the way down to the floor. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead, still wet from the shower. He tried to look at his face through the fogged-up mirror, but all he got was a distorted image of a sad, worried face, but somehow, the fact that he couldn’t see his face after a sleepless night just made him happier.

He didn’t want to go out of the bathroom, he even took his sweet time in the shower, trying to avoid his inevitable fate as much as possible. He knew that outside that door his new servants were waiting for him, with a suit perfectly tailored for his body and all of his things packed up and ready to go right behind him.

Once he stepped out of the bathroom his life was going to change for ever, no going back, not anymore. He wasn’t ready, but then again, he didn’t know if he was going to be ready at some point.

He looked at his distorted reflection one last time, taking in every single detail he could see: his tired brown eyes, the dark circles that went down form them, his blonde messy hair, his plumped lips. He wanted to take a mental picture of that Seoho, a normal student and citizen who did his best to get through the day. He didn’t want to only remember what he was about to become; he didn’t want to change anything from that beautifully messy reflection. It was him, after all, and he liked it, even if he sometimes said otherwise, he liked being him, but now, his life was being taken away from his hands, and he didn’t know if he was ever getting it back.

He left the bathroom looking at his bare feet, with nothing but his underwear covering up his body. Once out and inside his room, he could suddenly feel the heat of the shame strong on his cheeks and coloring all the way down to his chest. He was only half naked, but he was already exposing more skin than anyone had ever seen. He didn’t like the feeling, he didn’t like it at all, but fighting that war had been a waste of time, and he hadn’t even gotten close to win in.

“We have to hurry, sir, the car is already waiting for us.”

The soft voice that welcomed him was different from all the others. It was calm and friendly, as if he was the only one who could see what Seoho was really going through. Curious enough to see, he raised his head to look at him, only to be surprised by one small, cute guy that was smiling fondly at him. He had to be a couple of centimeters shorter than him, but his eyes somehow seemed fierce and deadly, even if his lips were giving him the warmest of smiles.

“Sorry, I — I don’t recall ever seeing you before” Seoho tilted his head to the side, completely marveled by him.

“My bad, sir, I should have introduced myself earlier,” quickly, he did a bow, and that only gesture was enough to make Seoho remember how much his life was about to change, “my name is Yeo Hwanwoong and I will be the one responsible for you and your new education.”

Him? “You?”

“Yes, sir, as you would get to know sooner or later, I am younger than you, but as you might find out, knowledge does not come with age.”

Seoho opened his mouth to say something, but as soon as he did, Hwanwoong snapped his fingers, and suddenly there were people all over him.

He could feel their hands all over his body. Some of them were smearing things along his skin, while others were in charge of actually dressing him, asking him to raise his hands, to sit down or stand up. He couldn’t even remember the last time his mother got his clothes ready for him, let alone dressed him. He wanted to scream at them, to tell them to stop, but he knew they were doing nothing but their jobs, and he would be the greatest jerk in the planet if he said something against it. He sighted, thinking to himself that it would only be harder if he didn’t allow himself to follow the flow as swiftly as he could. He only needed to do it once, later, he thought, he could probably ask the Prince —his fiancé, to make them stop.

Having completely given up, he raised his eyes only to find Hwanwoong smiling, weirdly, to the other side of the room. For a moment, Seoho narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what was so fun to him about his room. He knew it wasn’t as clean or big as the ones they surely had at the palace, but he had cleaned it as much as he could, he was sure there was nothing to laugh about, at least not that day. However, the other soon turned around to look at him, and when he saw Seoho was looking right back at him, his face froze, and he quickly turned away from him; had he been laughing at him? At his suffering? That little —

“He’s ready” One of the guys said, while pushing him to the front, right in front of a mirror.

His jaw almost dropped when he looked at his reflection. He wasn’t even outside of his house, but he already looked, and felt, out of place. The suit wasn’t only on his body, but it looked like it was embracing it with graciousness. His legs looked longer than they surely were, his shoulders looked stronger and bigger, and his waist seemed smaller. The dark fabric of the suit just made his skin look paler, but even if he didn’t like it, he knew it had always been the trend around the palace. His hair was nicely done, it wasn’t too extravagant, and it wasn’t too far from what he was used to see every morning, it just was…fancier.

“He looks amazing, the queen will be happy about it.” Hwanwoong said to them before they disappeared from their sight, taking what was left of Seoho’s things with them, “Please, sir, sit.”

He shivered after hearing him say that word, he didn’t like it, he didn’t want him to use it, but he knew it would be hard to make him stop. He needed to wait for the right time to ask. Quickly, Seoho obeyed him and sat down in his bed — his old bed. There were no sheets left on it; it was just as naked as the rest of his room.

Carefully, Hwanwoong approached him with something in between his hands. It was a little, circle recipient that opened to reveal some kind of sponge. He had never seen something like that on his life, and he soon began feeling ignorant, but he guessed he would have to get used to that feeling too “What is that?”

“Make-up” Slowly, Hwanwoong began collecting something from the container, “you sure are handsome, but you look sick, and no one wants to see a sick Crown Prince.” Once again, he smiled warmly at Seoho, in what might have been an attempt at making him feel a little bit better. It was working, kind of. 

Soon, he began spreading the weird liquid all over his face, covering every single centimeter of his skin that was out in the open. For a moment, Seoho thought he would feel as if he was carrying a heavy mask, as if his skin couldn’t breathe, but once the thing settled, it felt as if he had nothing on. Once again, he looked at the mirror in front of them, only to find out that the black circles were gone, and that his skin shinned more than his whole future.

“Oh, yeah, I looked sick.” At first, he hadn’t understood what was wrong with his face, he had seen it like that since the beginning of his life, but now that he knew how it looked like being healthy, he understood how wrong he had been.

“Now you look like a Prince.” Although Seoho tried to smile as brightly as him, the weight on his chest was too much for him to even try. It was time, he could see it in the other’s eyes.

Without a word, Seoho turned around and started walking towards the door, dragging his feet and not really wanting to leave. He stopped for a moment before opening the door. He looked back at his empty room, at the memories he had build inside its walls and all the plans he had begun on that place when he still didn’t know he wouldn’t be able to finish them. He looked back at the last bit of his life that was free, that was completely him, and with a sad smile he quietly said goodbye.

He didn’t dare to speak after that, not even when he kissed his parents as a goodbye. He knew that the moment he spoke, the tears would start coming out of his eyes, and there wasn’t going to be a way to stop them. Maybe, if he hadn’t seen or hear all the reporters that were waiting for him outside of his house, he would’ve tried to speak one last time to his parents, but as Hwanwoong said, no one wanted to see a sick or sad Prince.

He hugged them one last time before going out, and he didn’t look back. He wouldn’t have been able to even if he wanted, as the flashes of the cameras soon blinded him, and the demands of the reporters began filling his ears. Before he could tell, he was being dragged across the crowd, into the limousine and away from his home.

Once again, he was glad they didn’t allow him to look back, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his tears back.


	5. The Golden Cage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Youngjo let his hand fall of the other’s shoulder and frowned at him, as if he was suddenly just as lost as him “No, my mother says we’re young still, and we also thought you would be more comfortable with your own space — you want us to share a room?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!! A couple of month later I'm back with a new chapter, I'm sorry this took so long but university really was a b*tch with me and my self esteem. Anyway, it's NaNoWriMo! I'll be updating this and Son of the Moon at least twice a week, and maybe do some other prompts out of them, so please look forward to it!

The sound of the main gates slowly opening to reveal the beautiful palace behind them took over all other sounds for a couple of seconds, even the sound of his own, nervous breathing was hard to listen; however, little did it matter, for the new Crown Prince to be had stopped breathing the moment they arrived in front of the door. His new life was no further than a couple of centimeters away, and suddenly, just the thought of moving was too much for him to handle.

Before he could prepare himself, the limousine was already moving, entering the palace and leaving behind the real world.

Seoho’s eyes got lost on that distant new world, as if those were the eyes of a little boy that was seeing the outside for the very first time. It wasn’t his first time inside of the palace, but it was the first time he was taking the time to look at the details, to really enjoy the beauty that seemed to appear at every corner of the place.

“Could we go slower?” He had been too afraid to say anything on their way there, he felt that, if he opened his mouth, the only thing he would was cry about his parents and about the life he had lost in a matter of seconds. But now he had spoken without even thinking of doing it, too existed with this brand-new beauty to even think about the consequences.

“No, sir, they are already waiting for you on the palace,” Hwanwoong answered from the copilot sit. Seoho lowered his eyes after hearing him, suddenly remember what he was really doing there, and that now he couldn’t just do whatever he liked, “and we don’t want to make the Queen and Queen Mother wait, believe me, it wouldn’t be pleasant for you.”

Seoho nodded in silence, again too scared to even dare to open his mouth. He didn’t feel like seeing anyone at the moment, all he wanted to do was to crash down on whatever bed they would’ve gotten ready for him and sleep until his head hurt too much to keep doing so. He guessed, or at least he hoped, he would have the time to do all of that after the meeting, he just needed to survive a couple of hours more, it couldn’t be that hard.

Suddenly, the car stopped in front of what seemed to be a small house in the middle of one of the gardens.

Its walls were made out of glass, and though them, beautiful plants could be seen even from the distance, which made it look like a modern greenhouse. Seoho could also see a little living room right in the middle of it and a huge television on the other wall, that was on top of a cozy looking fireplace.

The driver opened his door for him and Hwanwoong practically ran to him, making a little bow when Seoho turned to look at him “Welcome, sir, this will be your new home.”

Slowly, Seoho descended from the limousine, touching the floor a couple of times with the tip of his right foot before deciding it was indeed real and it wasn’t a construction of his own imagination. Once out of the car he stood there for a couple of minutes, doing nothing but looking around him, surprising himself with each and every single thing that he could see, as if he had never seen any of it before. A concrete road welcomed him, and around it, a line of tulips and sunflowers decorated it all the way to the main door.

“Sir? Are you okay? You need to get in and get ready for your meeting.”

Seoho blinked a few times, coming back to Earth “Yes — yes, sorry, I was just —” His words were interrupted by a sneeze that were strong enough to wake up every single birth that was trying to rest in the middle of the day and to scare the living hell out of poor Hwanwoong “Sorry, I’m not used to being surrounded by so much — nature.”

The other just laughed it off with bright, innocent eyes “It’s alright, sir, if they bother you we could ask for them to be taken away, you just have to say it and we will change anything you want.”

Seoho quickly shook his head, horrified by the idea of them getting rid of such beautiful flowers “They are perfect, I just need a little more time to get use to them that’s it.” His nose was still itching, and he knew it will soon begin running, but how was he supposed to know he had some type of allergy to nature when he had never been surrounded by it, not in the same way he was at that time.

“Okay then, sir, please, come with me, I will show you your room.” Without him even realizing, Hwanwoong snatched his suitcases from him and began walking with them to the little house.

Seoho had wanted to stop him, to tell him that he could get them in just fine, but before he could say anything, the little figure had already disappeared behind the black metal door, leaving Seoho completely alone and confused in jut a matter of seconds before he decided to follow the other inside the house.

As soon as he entered, he realized how wrong he had been about its size. His house—no, his parent’s house could fit at least two times inside of it, and it wasn’t a house, it was more of a residence inside the palace grounds.

The floors were as white as the moon, made of marble and decorated with red and golden carpets, just as the place where he had first met the Queen. Even on the inside, the place was also surrounded by flowers of all colors and sizes. The living room was nothing but a single couch and a coffee table that separated two rooms. One of them, he thought, had to be his, and the other —

“Oh, you’re here already.” Youngjo came out of the room that was at his left, barely looking up from his cellphone “You’re late, I thought you would arrive tomorrow.”  
Before Seoho could answer that no one had bothered to tell him at what time he had been supposed to arrive, Hwanwoong appeared out of nowhere, bowing, once again, to the other male “I am sorry, your highness, but we weren’t informed of the Crown Prince’s schedule, it is all our fault.” And, again, he bowed. Why was he so apologetic if it clearly hadn’t even been his fault?

Youngjo looked at him for a couple of seconds, his eyes going back and forth their faces. He seemed like he was about to scream to him, and Seoho was more than ready to fight back if he even dared talking back at him. He was already planning out the whole fight in his mind when the older finally talked.

“It’s fine, Hwanwoong, you don’t have to apologize.” He smiled and touched the other’s shoulder in a friendly manner. In no time, he had change from being a cold jerk, to being that one friend that was just way to sweet to handle “I’ll talk with the royal secretary so this won’t happen again, alright? There’s no need to apologize.” And suddenly, they were both laughing and smiling.

Seoho’s mouth fell completely open, as if what he was seeing was the most outrageous, horrible thing one could witness. Had anyone seen him, they would’ve thought of him as the worst comedian to have ever existed, but how was it even possible to the other to be so kind and caring when he seemed to be fighting the urge to kill him every time they spoke.

“Sir? Is everything alright?” Hwanwoong’s voice made him react from that little trance in which he had gotten lost for a couple of seconds, closing his mouth with a soft noice before clearing his throat.

They were both looking at him as if he belonged to a mental hospital, and for a couple of seconds Seoho just wished the earth would open up and eat him alive “No — no, I mean — Yes, everything is fine, I just —” He just was still finding it hard to believe the other had a heart “I just — is that my room? Are we not sharing a room?”

Finally, Youngjo let his hand fall of the other’s shoulder and frowned at him, as if he was suddenly just as lost as him “No, my mother says we’re young still, and we also thought you would be more comfortable with your own space — you want us to share a room?”

Seoho opened his eyes like two plates, while a crimson color began taking over his cheeks “No! God, no! I just — I wanted to know what this place was, it surely isn’t the palace.” He gulped loud enough for both of them to hear, which only make him die inside a little bit more. Was it too hard for him to just be normal for a couple of seconds?

“No, this is our place” Youngjo looked pleased, as if he was trying to hold back a smile, was he laughing at him again? “This way we could be a little less forced to follow the palace regulations every single second of the day. Its better to live as far from the elders as possible, believe me.”

Seoho nodded in agreement, figuring that maybe that way he could keep a little of his old life intact, just as it was.

“Sorry to interrupt you, your highness, but we need to get him settle down and ready now.” Hwanwoong calmly put a friendly hand around his arm and began dragging him to his room, barely giving him any time to say goodbye to Youngjo.

He closed the door behind them, and quickly began getting his clothes out of his suitcase, looking rather displeased at everything he saw “Sorry, but I felt you were going to pass out at any moment, and I don’t have time to wait until you go back to your senses, not today. You will have plenty of time to enjoy him and act all lovey-dovey after the wedding, don’t worry.”

Seoho was barely paying him attention, because he was too lost in the sight before him. His new room was like someone had learned what his younger self had dreamt about for his whole life and making it come to life. His new bed was bigger than his old room, he had his own little living room decorated just as any other gaming geek would love. Right next to the living room, there was a modern-looking desk with a computer that was certainly more expensive than his father’s car, and with one of those chairs that every single youtuber had. Suddenly, he felt little, lost, in between all of that luxury.

“This is just too—wait, what did you just say?”

“Mhm? That you would have plenty of time to enjoy him and act all lovey-dovey after the weeding?” Hwanwoong didn’t even look at him, he just kept searching for something in between his clothes, and Seoho didn’t know if it was time to tell him he didn’t own anything other than t-shirts and three pairs of jeans.

“I—why would I act all lovey-whatever with him? I despise him” Well, maybe that was a little too much for what he felt, or not, for the prince, but Seoho had always been a little of a dramatic queen.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t know despising someone would look as if you had a big fat crush on them” Finally, he turned to look at him just to roll his eyes in an ironic manner.  
“Excuse you? I don’t have a big fat crush on — wait, what happened to all that ceremonial speech of yours?” It wasn’t that Seoho hated this new way of communication, in fact, he preferred it, but it was weird coming out of someone that he had thought to be so regal and polite.

“Oh, I hate all of that, I really do, and I know you will too, but did you think I will talk to you like that when there were so much people listening? No way, I might hate talking like that, but I love getting the paycheck, so there’s no way they will hear me talking like that.” Before he could do anything about it, Seoho was hugging him, almost crushing him between his arms “Auch! Get off me! You’re not even the prince yet, let me go!” But he was just to excited to know he was not alone, there was someone there that felt just like him and that was like maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be that bad.

“Sh, just let me enjoy this moment.” He asked while smiling as if they had just given him the best news ever, “Also, I would stop looking through my clothes, there’s nothing but t-shirts and some jeans.”

“I’m not looking through your clothes, you’re dressed already. I’m deciding what are you going to keep and what are we going to get rid of.”

Seoho finally allowed him to go, but his face had changed completely, now giving him an ironic smile “I’m going to kill you.”

“He’s late” The Queen wasn’t pleased, Youngjo didn’t need to be his son to see how pissed she was at his fiancé’s tardiness.

“Oh, let him be, dear, he is probably too nervous still. We can wait for him, there is nothing else in our agenda.” The Queen Mother on the other hand seemed to be just too excited, she could barely hold herself. She had told Youngjo that it would be the first time in a while they would have someone as bright and happy as Seoho inside the palace, which had made Youngjo wonder if this wasn’t just a sort of end-of-life crisis.

“You will have to excuse him, your Majesty, but the royal secretary forgot to tell his assistant he would be having a meeting with you. I’m sure he will arrive as soon as he’s ready.” His mother didn’t look pleased at loosing the opportunity of scolding him, which, in a way, Youngjo understood. It would have been fun to look at his nervous little face painted with that soft pink he got when he was embarrassed.

“The Crown Prince to be is here, your Majesty.” Soon after he was announced, Seoho entered with a worried smile on his face. He probably thought he was making a great job at hiding how nervous and lost he was, which just made it all too fun for Youngjo to watch.

They were all waiting for him to bow, as the tradition was, but instead, he got on his knees and did a full bow to his grandmother. Youngjo had to look away to stop himself from laughing at his face “Dear, you do not have to do something like that, stand up, quickly, we wouldn’t want your beautiful suit to get dirty now, would we?” He could see his grandmother smiling at him and, for a second, he had to agree with her. Seoho looked good, maybe too good for Youngjo’s liking, “Now, come here, sit, let me get a good look at you.”

Youngjo still didn’t dare to look at him. He couldn’t tell if it was to stop himself from laughing or because he didn’t want him to notice how much he liked his appearance, but he didn’t give it too much thought and just watched as his grandmother began examining him.

“We will need his hair to be in his natural shade,” He could feel the other twist beside him after hearing that, but Youngjo did nothing, he would have to get used to them deciding over his life or his body, or else he would just find it harder to get use to life in the castle, “he will also take posture lessons, but aside from that, I think he is just fine, or what do you say, Queen?”

“Queen Mother, although I agree with what you just said, I think he needs far more instruction that just a couple of posture lessons.” And so, it began, the so-called training that his mother had in mind. He had tried his best to convince her not to put him through a lot, but it had been a lost battle before it had even started, and, besides, he had tried to warn him about it, hadn’t he? It wasn’t his fault he decided not to hear him “The next two days you will be learning about the marriage ceremony, and all the other ceremonies that come with it—”

“Two days? Weren’t we supposed to wait a month before getting married?” Youngjo had counted on this time, hoping that it would be enough to change Seoho’s mind, but now he could see his plans falling apart little by little.

“Yes, as you said, we were, but now it has been decided that you will be married before this week ends.” It had been foolish of him to think that he would be able to give the other another chance to run away from that life. He had to think of something else, and he had to do it fast.

“After that, you will be taught by your assistant about the palace, our history, our traditions, and everything you need to know to rule this country in the future, do you understand?”

“Ye—yes, your highness” Youngjo quickly hit him in the ribs with his elbow, “Majesty, I mean, your Majesty, I do understand.”

“Good. Now, please, go and rest, for you will not have much time to do so after today.”

After hearing that, Youngjo almost ran out of the room, barely taking any time to bow at them. Maybe, just maybe, if he was cold enough with him, he would end up leaving somehow, and maybe that way Youngjo could give him another chance to live as he deserved. It probably was a bad idea, and it probably would end up with the other hating him forever, but if it was what needed to be done to get him out of that golden cage, then Youngjo would take all the risks.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Seoho wined once more, dropping his head in between his hands “What is this? I don’t get it, none of this makes sense.” He had been trying to read the same page for more than half an hour. Each time he managed to read through a couple of lines, he realized he hadn’t understood anything at all, and therefore, he had to read it all over again. By then, he had read the same line more than ten times, “I’m tired of all this.”

“You can’t tell me this is harder to understand than your science books” Hwanwoong was just as tired. He had been hearing him complain about the same page for more than twenty minutes, and he couldn’t do nothing else but watch him read until he finished the two chapters he had scheduled for the day. Seoho hadn’t even arrived at the half of the first chapter, “You have to focus or else they won’t allow you to go out for the next few weeks.”

“I like reading my science books, they’re full of raw facts that are straight forward—”

“Unlike you.” Hwanwoong interrupted, clearly too far gone in his boredom to even care about how serious or not he was.

“—As I was saying,” Seoho rolled his eyes, too tired to rise his head and look at him, “the difference is that I can understand those facts, they’re easy to learn, but this—” With his thumb and index finger, he grabbed the page he was at by the corner, shaking it in front of Hwanwoong almost lifelessly, “this is just too intricated, they tell you all this story, and all this reasoning behind the facts that just makes it all much more confusing. Like, if you want me to learn to serve tea then show me the steps with little drawings, something like that, but don’t mix it all with the story about the first lady that invented this so-called art by mistake, I’m not even a wife!”

Hwanwoong lowered his head, his hands now clutched into two tight fists. He wasn’t the most patient one, but he had been trying to understand the brutal changes the soon-to-be Prince was going through. He took one, two, and even three deep breathes before razing his head once more to stare back at the blonde one “I know, but this is our heritage, and if the royal family can’t keep it alive, then who will?” He know how tiresome all those little stories were, he had had to read them all and learn them by heart to even think about entering the palace, “And, yes, you’re not a wife, but you have to understand that there has never been a case like this, so this is what you’ll have to do for now, until the Queen Mother decides the role you will take as the Royal Consort.”

A snort came out of Seoho’s tired lips. He knew Hwanwoong that’s right, but that just made him feel more desperate, more lost.

Finally, he dropped his head, completely, on top of the book, his face turned to the side. What he hated the most was how beautiful the surroundings were, and he hated them because he had to study instead of enjoying them, and because not even the sound of the calm water was enough to bring him so kind of peace.

The place was full of the most beautiful cherry blossoms that painted the garden with a soft pink, soft enough that it looked white in some places. The leaves moved along side the calm wind that was blowing, some of them slowly dancing off the branches and into the grass. A pink carpet covered the whole place, with little green spaces in between, places where the cherry blossoms hadn’t dropped its leaves. He could hear the birds that lived within those trees, their signing seemed peaceful, as if it wasn’t their way to fight over dominance and territory. 

If he turned his head just slightly, he could see the beautiful lake that ran all around them, and right beneath them. The water was clear, clean as he had only seen in movies and commercials. It was decorated by beautiful aquatic flowers, that danced along its edges, pushed further away by the little waves the swans made while swimming across the lake. Yes, they had swans, as any other good palace would, freaking and beautiful swans all over the place.

He wanted to stand up and run to them, feed them and watch them fight over a lone piece of bread. He needed to see if there were indeed fishes dancing all over the lake, and if they too would fight for the food. He wished he could run out of the place, and right into the pink carpet that was covering the beautiful grass, so he could lose himself on the blue sky, and find shapes on the clouds going through it. 

He craved for freedom, but all he was able to get was a blurry mental image or how would it feel to grasp that freedom in between his fingers.

“Seoho, the more time you lose the more time you will stay here reading the same page.” Hwanwoongs voice interrupted his daydreaming, which only made Seoho hate him a little more, just for a couple seconds, because he was the only friend he had inside the palace doors.

“I already know how to serve tea, my mother taught me manners when I was little.” Seoho complained back, still staring at the beautiful landscape in front of him.  
“As you said, you know manners, and I’m really grateful for it because I wasn’t about to raise you, but now you need to know to learn the ceremonial aspect to it, you need to go beyond only knowing manners” Without even asking him, the youngest one grabbed him by the collar and forced him to stand up. Although Hwanwoong seemed small and delicate, he was far from being that.

“Hey! I thought you didn’t want anyone to see you behaving like this!” His voice was whiny, as high as he could make it.

“Do you see anyone around here? No, there’s no one here, no one wants to be here because the swans are savage and they could bite your finger off, so shut up, read the damn book, or I’ll throw you to the lake.” Maybe if he was Keonhee or Dongju, Seoho would be laughing at the idea of any of them even trying to do something like that, but as he looked into Hwanwoong’s eyes, he knew he wasn’t kidding, and he would throw him inside without a doubt “Read a chapter more and I’ll consider letting you go, okay?” 

“…I think it’s fair enough” It wasn’t, he was only halfway through the first chapter and now he needed to read two. It was like he had died and gone to hell, where they were torturing him in the most personalized and horrific way they could find.

He complied, knowing very well that they would never scold him, not directly. They would scold him by scolding Hwanwoong in front of him and that’s something he really, really wouldn’t be able to withstand. He could be lazy at times, but his heart was weak, and watching his only friend on the palace go through hell just because he didn’t want to read would be too much for him to handle.

He muddled through the last couple of sentences of the first chapter. He really didn’t understand what they were trying to say, but he made sure to remember the words and learn them by heart in hopes of having more time to remember them well enough to search them on the internet later that day.

“Will they give me back my cellphone any time soon?” Seoho asked while turning the page for the second chapter. As soon as he began unpacking his things, the Queen asked for his cellphone, she said it would interfere with his learning before the big day. He couldn’t do anything to avoid it “And do they really need to change my hair? I mean, we could just allow it to grow a little more and it will lose the bleach naturally.” 

Hwanwoong let a desperate sigh out, visibly tired of explaining the same thing all over again “I have no way to know if they will give you your cellphone before the ceremony, but they will definitely give it back once it finishes, and no, we can’t allow you get married with a hair like that, when have you seen any mandatary with a bleached head? No way they would aloud that.”

“I just —” He was ready to explain himself with useless words all over again, but he was interrupted by loud steps approaching them.

Hwanwoong’s face transformed immediately, sitting as straight as he could on the hard-wooden floor.

“You must’ve finished at least half of the book by now, haven’t you?” Youngjo, by now, Seoho could recognize that voice anywhere. He wasn’t proud of that fact, but at least now he could be ready a little bit earlier.

“Your Highness,” In his place, Hwanwoong almost made a full bow to him “I’m sorry, I have been permissive with your fiancé, I—”

“You are an university student, you should be used to reading things as long or longer than this on a daily basis, this shouldn’t pose a problem to you,” Even though Seoho wanted to yell at him and fight back, he knew he was right, and he had no intention to fight a lost cause “You can’t even say a thing, fine, follow me, forget the book for now.”

Seoho and Hwanwoong both raised their heads to look at the prince, both equally taken aback by the request “Your Highness, he still has a lot to—”

“To read, I know, I’ll take full responsibility, don’t worry about it, Hwanwoong.” When turning his eyes from Seoho to Hwanwoong, the prince’s gaze turned a little less threatening, as if he had recovered a little of what made him human. 

The sight just made Seoho realize how little he cared for him “Well, what if I don’t want to go?”

“Well, I am not asking you this time, I’m telling you to come with me,” he wasn’t angry, or even bothered, his face was as calm as ever, and that just made Seoho even more angry, “or, you can stay here reading the same page for the next half an hour.”

Seoho could have been as angry as even, in fact, he probably could have been a lot more than mad, but as soon as he heard those words coming out of the prince’s lips, he forgot all about it. Youngjo was literally saving him from his worst nightmare, and he would be stupid to deny himself the freedom that was so close to him.  
“Alright, I’ll go with you, but only because I find you a little less obnoxious than the reading.” Seoho stood up from the ground. He didn’t know how much time had passed since they both arrived there, but his bones cracked as soon as he stood straight, and his back ached from the middle all the way down to the back part of his knees. What was he? Eighty or twenty-two?

“Don’t worry, I’m not doing this to save your ass from studying,” He surely had heard his whole body crack after standing up, but other than a slight twist of the corners of his lips, Seoho could see no reaction, no sign of worry, “I’m going to show you why you should study harder.”

The royal fiancé stood still for a couple of seconds, giving a quick glance to the equally confused Hwanwoong “Are you, threatening me?”

“—just come with me, Seoho, we have to be back by dinner time”

Dinner time? No wonder Hwanwoong was so tired of hearing him complain, it was almost the sunset and they had been sitting in the same place since early in the morning. He didn’t blame him for wanting to kill him, not anymore.

Quickly, he obeyed, mainly because he wanted to get as far as possible from the books as he could. He followed the other just a couple of steps behind, watching his feet only because he really didn’t want to end up on the floor and give him a reason to laugh at his face.

“Have you been talking with your family?”

He halted, immediately, after hearing his words. That was a question Seoho was not expecting, at least not coming from the Crown Prince, and the calm and almost worried tone that came whit it was even more surprising “Sorry, what?” Maybe he hadn’t ask him that, maybe he just needed to wash his ears more often, or maybe the need to feel less lonely made him hear things that had never been said.

Youngjo stopped soon after, turning around to look at him with a tilted head “Have you been talking with your family?”

Apparently, he it hadn’t been just his imagination “I—They allowed to call my mother this morning, to formally invite her to the wedding,” he felt the necessity to gulp after saying that word, which still felt awkward in his mouth “but that’s it, nothing more.”

The prince slowly nodded, and for a second, just for a second, Seoho got to admire how nice he really looked with the orange sun of dawn washing all over his face. He hated him still, but he wasn’t blind, he had one of the most handsome faces he had ever seen, and in that period, he even forgot about the beautiful landscape that was still around them. 

“Well, that’s actually better than I thought…have you talked with your friends?”

How did he even know he had friends? They hadn’t talked much, and he surely hadn’t mention them to him. Was he, maybe, just maybe, a little bit interested on his life?

“I haven’t talked to them; I don’t have my cellphone and they only allowed me to make that one call.” He really felt as if he was a prisoner, with only right to make one phone call.

Youngjo sighted before closing his eyes for a moment, as if it was just too much for him.

After a couple of seconds of silence, which Seoho used to take a closer look to the beautiful swans, the prince talked once more with a softer, calmer voice “You’re not planning on going closer, right? You do know they bite, no?”

“What?” Seoho turned to look at him once more, a surprised look on his face “They bite? Why?” 

“Yes,” Youngjo shrugged, starting to walk once more, “that’s just how swans are, they’re aren’t friendly at all. Very territorial creatures, it’s better to stay away”

“So just like you then” Seoho didn’t even realize the words had come out of his mouth until after he said them. He bit his lower lip, yelling at himself internally for having that little slip, that was probably about to cost him his life. He was now waiting for him to react, to talk harshly at him and make him feel bad because, after all, he had saved him from the reading hell he was trapped in.

However, the only answer he got was a small laugh.

“You could say so, yes, you’re also not the first one to make that relation.” For a moment, Youngjo seemed peaceful, calm, as if he was walking along one of his old friends. He didn’t seem like the cold prince that had welcomed him to the palace, or the jerk that had proposed to him in the worst way possible. He was just a guy, laughing and enjoying life just as him, “My mother ven says I’m more like the black swan that sometimes wonders far enough from the lake to arrive in front of the palace.”

Who was this boy and how could Seoho see more of him? “A black swan?” He could only whisper, still too surprise for the sudden change in his demeanor.  
“Yes, my father got him as a gift, along with his parents and siblings, we still don’t know why he is black, thought, because no other swan in his family is, at least that we know of.”

Seoho turned his head for a moment, but the lake was now lost in between the cherry blossoms and the other huge trees. Probably, he should’ve kept walking with his eyes on the front, because he soon felt himself crashing with the other’s back.

Once again, he was expecting to be yelled at, to be told that he only needed to look at the road, but instead, he heard him take a deep breathe, and then, another soft laugh that, for a second, Seoho thought he was part of his imagination.

“I will come back for you in an hour, I can’t give you any more time.” Confused, Seoho looked up to him, only to find him pointing at the old, traditional building, encouraging him to go in.

“Aren’t you coming with?”

“No, believe me, you wouldn’t want me there.” And, somehow, it looked like he himself wouldn’t want to be inside for what ever reason he was hiding “Go ahead, I’ll come for you in an hour, so don’t waste your time.” And with that, he turned around and began walking the path they had followed to get there.

He couldn’t lie to himself; he was scared. There was something off about the place and, for a moment, he thought he was probably walking right into a trap. But at the same time, he really think of the prince as someone who would pull off a prank like that, no matter how much he hated him or not, he just couldn’t picture him planning everything so meticulously, and therefore, losing his precious time in that silly prank. 

After a few seconds had passed, Seoho took a deep breathe and started to make his way inside of the place.

It looked like it once had served as a resting place for those who had to stay the night at the palace grounds, but now, the only thing that inhabited it was a thick layer of dust, old-cracking wood and a couple of lonely chairs that had been forgotten by time. He felt like he was walking into his own dead.

“Hello? Anyone here?” He was afraid of asking, but he wanted to know once and for all how far and how fast would he need to run.

However, the answer he got was far from being the one he expected.

“Thank god you’re here, I thought a weird serial killer was going to get in and kill us off.”

“You also mentioned something about the ghost of a lost princess.”

Keonhee and Dongju came out of the darkness, dusting their clothes. Seoho’s hard began racing and it was soon too much to handle.

“Guys!” He ran to them, his arms wide open and the biggest smile his lips could make. They both received them with the same happiness. They soon became a huge mess of laughing, screaming, jumping and crying, all at the same time. He had spent the whole day thinking about them, wishing he could talk to them about how hard things were and how scared he was, but after they took away his phone, he had lost all hope. Now, it was like a genie had come out of a lamp and made his wish come true.

“What are you doing here? How did you manage to get in?” Seoho finally managed to ask, after they all had calmed down and while Keonhee was cleaning the tears that were sliding down his cheeks.

“We didn’t, we didn’t even know where he was taking us.” Dongju answered, sitting down on one of the chairs.

“What—what do you mean?” 

“The prince came by this morning and asked us to wait for him before going home.” Keonhee began explaining, now talking with an unusually soft voice, “and we really thought it was going to be some kind of joke, but at the same time we hadn’t seen you in a week, so we decided to wait for him, I mean, we had nothing to lose.” Keonhee took his hand and walked with him to the chairs where Dongju was already waiting for them. They sat down before Keonhee kept talking “He told us that if we wanted to see you, we would need to trust him, and we both were like: yeah dude, whatever, just take us there. But he then proceeded to get us inside the truck, the freaking truck, and telling us it would only be a few minutes, that it wouldn’t take long, now you see the things we have to do for you?”

So, it had been him, the cold and aloof prince had gone all the way just to bring him his best friends, without him even mentioning anything about them. He had thought of him, of what he wished for, but at the same time, he had been so cold and distant, that Seoho had thought that he just despised him. Who was then the prince he was about to marry? Was he the indifferent one, or the kind and caring one? Would he get to know the answer at some point?

“Well then,” Dongju interrupted his thoughts, a bright but dangerous smile clear in his small face “tell us everything, don’t you dare leave out a single detail.”  
And just like that, Seoho forgot his internal debate and began letting out everything he had been keeping inside since he had entered the palace.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Youngjo enjoyed the way the light breeze of the night slowly hit his face. He had always enjoyed spending time on the forest, mainly on the forgotten parts of it. He had always thought there was a beauty in their solitude.

He didn’t like the idea of keeping the three of them in there, thought, mainly because of how dirty it was, but he also knew there was no other place for them to meet safely, and no other way for them to get out of the palace without being noticed. He had explained it to the both of them more than enough times, now he only wished they hadn’t forgotten.

It wasn’t long before Seoho came out, jumping down the few stairs and…running towards him?

“Youngjo! Thank you! Thank you!” And before he could do anything about it, Seoho was hugging him by the waist, as tight as he probably could.

It took the prince a long while to react, but finally, Youngjo raised his arms and embraced him with the same warm. He probably shouldn’t be doing that, he probably should be thinking about ways to set him free, but soon he realized that he couldn’t, nor wanted to, stop himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I swear that I'll soon have some social media for you to follow me at.


	6. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!! This took me a little longer than expected and sadly I still don't think it's as good as I wanted it to be, but an effort was made. Anyway, this is the first prompt from a NaNoWriMo prompt list I'm doing with some friends (yes, I know it's already the 17th, I'm a late starter?) and the prompt was "Getting lost some where" and I just felt it perfectly fits how Seoho is feeling right now. But, yeah, enjoy the chapter!!

The palace was a huge place.

Seoho clearly hadn’t thought of that before leaving the safety of his room and adventuring into the unknown. Why did the palace have so many dead ends? What if he got lost forever and no one ever found him? They had to, right? They needed him some place they could find him if they wanted a wedding to happen.

But maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to be found. Being lost, one way or the other, made him feel safe.

Maybe all he wanted was to get out of there, go back home and play some videogames; however, since he apparently had no other place to go, getting lost gave him a little sense of security, put a smile on his face. If he was lost, they couldn’t hurt him, they couldn’t manage his life as they so wanted. If he was lost, he was safe from the toxic air that surrounded him when he was with the rest of the royal family. 

Being lost, in those moments, made him feel freer than ever. But something in the back of his head reminded him of Youngjo, and how kind he had been earlier that day.

Suddenly exhausted, Seoho stopped in the middle of a walkway, an open window to the night sky right in front of him. He allowed himself to sly down the wall and sit down on the floor, resting his head in between his knees, while hugging his legs to his chest. His heart and his mind where as lost as his body, and he had just been two days inside the palace. He still felt like an eternity had gone by.

He missed his friends, his family, and even just being able to do whatever he wanted. He missed his bed, the softness of his old, cheap sheets and the sound his old mattress made each time he moved or even breathed too loudly. He missed waking up in the morning and being able to spend ours on his cellphone, doing nothing with his life and letting his homework accumulate on his desk. 

He missed his life and he would give everything to get it back, but as he looked to the night sky, a realization downed on him: even if he was ready to give everything just to go back home, he wouldn’t, because he made a promise and because he would also give everything he had and everything he was to fulfill that same promise. He couldn’t fail his family, after all, he wasn’t that alone, he had Hwanwoong right there for him, even if sometimes they just wanted to kill each other.

Finally, as his eyes got lost in the full moon that was looking down on him, he acknowledged the truth that he had been trying to ignore: his life was no longer his, and it never would be his again.

“I’m so fucking lost.” He whispered to himself as tears began going down his face, he was finally mourning his old life, and even though he felt like the world was ending, his chest felt lighter.

He didn’t bother to stand up and search for an exit, he knew it was near, but he just no longer had the energy to put himself together and walk out to the unknown. He decided to stay there, the sound of his own mourning being the only thing he could hear around him. He sat there for what seemed to be hours, until a pair of footsteps approached him slowly.

“Seoho?” He froze at the sound of his voice, immediately hiding his face in between his knees, making sure Youngjo wouldn’t see him cry “For fuck’s sake, Seoho, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Was that emotion in his voice…concern? Had Youngjo been concerned about him? “Did you just happen to forget that I can’t even eat if you’re not there with me? Huh?”

Seoho quietly laughed at himself, had he really thought Youngjo was concerned about him? No, he had been hungry, and since Hwangwoon didn’t allow him to eat if Seoho wasn’t there, he had gone there looking for his meal.

“I’m not hungry.” Seoho whispered as low as he could, trying to hide the harshness his voice had after crying.

“I don’t care if you’re not hungry, we’re gettin’ married in less than twelve hours and you won’t have anything to eat until tomorrow night.” He was angry, Seoho could feel it in the way he spoke through his teeth, as if he was trying to hold himself back. “I am not asking if you’re hungry, I’m telling you we have to eat something before going to bed and I—” Slowly, Seoho rose his head, looking at him with his tired, tear-filled eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he was listening, “are you alright?” Youngjo’s voice became cautious, as if he had just noticed that he was sharing the room with a time bomb that was about to explode.

“I’m really tired, and I am really not hungry.” He was, of course, lying, he was starving but he refused to let Youngjo win this round, “you can just go and eat, I would rather stay here a little longer.” Another lie, the chill air of the night that was infiltrating through the open window made him shiver and regret not taking anything with him before leaving his — their home.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Seoho, you need to eat something and get some sleep before the event and — do you even know where you are?”

Seoho didn’t answer and decided not to explode after all, he didn’t have the energy to fight him, or to at least put himself in fighting mode. He was so tired, and so lost in his own fight that he kind of knew this wasn’t Youngjo’s fault. Kind of, he wasn’t sure just yet.

“Can’t I just have a few moments of freedom before dedicating my whole life to you and your crown? Please, I just…I want to stay here.” Completely defeated and utterly tired, Seoho returned to his initial position, tightly hugging his legs to his chest and letting his chin rest on his knees, holding his breath just to make sure he wouldn’t break in front of the prince. Not again.

After what seemed to be hours of nothing but silence, Youngjo gave a few steps towards him. Seoho was ready to move away, to maybe jump and run as fast as he could, but Youngjo stopped after seeing him tensed up, “Okay, alright, I’ll leave you alone.”

Happy that he somehow managed to get rid of him, Seoho let his guard down and closed his eyes, waiting to hear Youngjo walking away before getting up himself; however, what he heard next wasn’t the sound of his footsteps, but the rustling of clothes and suddenly, he was no longer cold. Surprised, Seoho grabbed the hem of the coat that was now wrapping his body. He opened his eyes just to see Youngjo’s coat resting on his shoulders, but when he turned to say that he didn’t need it, the Crowned Prince was nowhere to be found.

Seoho stilled for a moment, thinking whether to go and give it back or not. In the end, he decided to fall back on the wall, holding the coat close to his body and getting lost in the warmth it provided.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

When Seoho woke up he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

The harsh wooden wall that had been supporting his back had been replaced with the softness of his mattress, and his silk sheets replaced the warmth of Youngjo’s coat. He didn’t remember falling asleep, he didn’t even know how he had managed to get out of the complicated corridors of the palace.

“Rise, sleepyhead, we’re already late and we have a lot to do today.” Hwangwoon’s voice pierced through his skull, bringing him back to reality before he could even understand how he had gotten there in the first place. “Today’s your wedding day! And not to put pressure on you, but the whole nation is ready for it.”

“What — how— is this a dream?” Seoho wanted some answers, and he wanted them now, but instead of them, all he got was a horrified expression from Hwanwoong, as if a ghost had materialized in front of him.

“Oh my god, this is bad, this is so, so bad, I need help, I need help right now.” The color of his face had disappeared and although Seoho had never seen Hwanwoong lose his temper, he was sure he was watching him going though a mental breakdown and a panic attack, all at the same town. “Byul! Come here right now!” He screamed at the top of his longs, making Seoho finally stand up from the bed and cover his ears, “We have an emergency! Help!”

“Hwangwoon! Calm down! What the hell is going on?” Seoho grabbed the small man by the shoulders, shaking him in an attempt to bring him back down to Earth. 

“I fucking forgot to dye your hair yesterday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my friend's prompts **[right here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536053)**!! They're amazing and last one really got me in the feelings. I also got a new [twitter](https://twitter.com/haneulnara1) and [tumblr](https://haneulnaraa.tumblr.com) so please go follow me, I'm sad and lonely sdfkjh. Also, if you want to buy me a [kofi](https://ko-fi.com/R5R3189D4) you now can!! But it is by no means obligatory, I actually love your comments and kudos even more, so please come fangirl with me or I'll cry.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, thanks if you made it this far!! I will be updating this one more than Son of the Moon, but that's still my main story so...yes. Anyways, if you want to talk to me or anything like that, you can always hit me up at my [twitter](https://twitter.com/_jaehwannie)
> 
> .


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